


Warm Chocolate

by FallacyFallacy



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Chocolate, Cooking, Falling In Love, Flirting, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Missing Scene, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-22 11:17:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22715188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallacyFallacy/pseuds/FallacyFallacy
Summary: When Kanata's fish chocolates turn out to be a deep disappointment, he can think of no-one but Souma to help him make something absolutely delicious.
Relationships: Kanzaki Souma/Shinkai Kanata
Kudos: 19





	Warm Chocolate

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is actually based on canon - in the mini-event lines for Ryuuseitai chocofes, Kanata says that he did get Souma to help him make the good chocolates he gives out in the end!

“Soooooumaaaaa!”

Souma turns instantly, forgetting to mind his melting chocolates in his haste. “Buchou-dono! What a pleasant surprise!”

Kanata leans against the kitchen doorway, panting. Souma perks even further – in all the hustle of Chocofes he’d resigned himself to the impossibility of a meeting with his beloved club captain, and not only has his heart’s desire been granted already, but Buchou appears to be in need of his help. Judging by the apron and box he’s carrying, help he is very well equipped to offer.

“If there is any way in which I may aid you, please tell me immediately! I, Kanzaki Souma, shall use every means at my disposal to come to your rescue!”

“It’s… not anything that serious or anything, though...” Buchou pouts, and Souma takes the reproval while simultaneously appreciating how endearing the expression is on him. “Also, are you cooking that chocolate…?”

“Ah!” Souma turns back, quickly stirring for a few moments. He doesn’t see any signs of burning, but he’ll check it very thoroughly as he continues to temper it. “Yes, thank you very much – I was so delighted to see you that I forgot what I was doing for a moment...”

As usual, Buchou taps him lightly on the head. “I’m happy that you’re so enthusiastic, but you have to be careful when you’re cooking, you know?”

“Yes, yes. I will try to do better.” Though he doubts that seeing Buchou will ever not affect him at least a little. “But in that case, what is your emergency?”

Buchou frowns again, twisting his mouth irritably. “I made some chocolate for Chocofes, but Chiaki said it wasn’t good enough, so I have to remake it...”

“I see.” Buchou doesn’t cook often but Souma hadn’t thought he was particularly bad at it. Especially when compared to Nagumo, at least based on what Souma’s heard from Adonis and Kiryuu alike.

Silently, Buchou opens his box. He takes out a plate and places it onto the counter beside Souma.

“...this is the chocolate you made?” Souma asks politely.

“Yes.”

Souma considers it. His timer going off gives him a bit of leeway and he takes advantage of the extra few moments he gets from putting his bowl aside and turning off the stove.

“I suspect,” he says finally, a thoughtful hand to his chin, “that the problem is the fish.”

Buchou glares at him immediately. “So it’s betrayal, is it!? To think I’d hear that, from a member of my own Marine Bio Club….! Pout, pout...”

“A-ahhh, well,” Souma says, mind working fast. “I-I admit that I am unfamiliar with Western cuisine in general, but in my experience, sweet tastes rarely combine well with the oily flavour of fish...”

“But, it’s a chocolate from Ryuusei Blue, right? It has to embody the mysterious and powerful nature of the ocean no matter what!”

Souma swallows. “Ah, I see. W-well, if you are insistent, then… I will try it.”

Buchou is mysteriously quiet.

“I must admit, it does not look at all appetising to me… but I have been exposed to many foods in my time at Yumenosaki that I would not have thought I would like. Tapioka, for instance. If Buchou-dono says that it is suitable, then I believe him.”

With a strident air, Souma reaches out for the chocolate. The moment he reaches it, he finds Buchou’s hand placed over his.

Buchou is smiling but his eyes are closed. “…you-you don’t need to do that,” he says.

“But, if this is what you wish-”

“It’s not,” Buchou says. “...good. I...will have to remake it.”

Souma really wants to try it anyway, if only out of some competitive stubbornness. But the shiny juices pooling around the chocolate are deeply unappealing.

He takes his hand back. “...thank you for your magnanimity,” he says.

Buchou groans all of a sudden, leaning over the counter to rest his head against his arms. “I don’t know what to do, though… Everyone else’s chocolates turned out well _eventually_ but my idea was really bad...”

Souma smiles and places a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Then we simply need to come up with a new idea! We still have plenty of time to make more.”

Buchou turns his head enough that Souma can see one glittering green eye. “You don’t need to help me make them – you have chocolates of your own to work on...”

Souma snorts, reaching over to slide a few more packs of chocolate towards them. “Absolutely not. Buchou-dono, I enjoy spending time with you, and I enjoy cooking. I would not for the world miss this opportunity to combine the two. Now – do you have any ideas for your second batch?”

“...Shinobu did his shaped like shuriken,” Buchou murmurs thoughtfully.

Souma chuckles. “That does sound very like him. It is a bit of a shame – a sword shape would be rather difficult unfortunately, given how long and thin they would have to be...”

“So… I guess mine could just be shaped like fish.” Buchou still sounds a little disappointed, however.

“Umu – that is a good start! I certainly have some appropriate moulds I have used for wagashi and the like. But it would be nice to add another personal touch, too...”

Buchou nods. “I want it to contain the essence of the ocean. When people eat fish they become one with the fish, you know? Perhaps I could include some oil...”

“Oily chocolate is not generally considered to be of high quality, I am afraid,” Souma says, and then an idea occurs to him immediately. “Sea salt! I’m sure I’ve seen that before, on a chocolate cake – that’s what we should do!”

Buchou stands up immediately. “Sea salt chocolate…?”

“Indeed!” Souma looks though his piles hurriedly. “It would be best mixed with milk chocolate, I believe – the intent is surely to contrast the salt with the sweetness of the chocolate, so dark chocolate would be too bitter. And, ah – we could even sprinkle some extra salt on top, to look like sparkling scales!”

Slowly, Buchou’s eyes widen in dawning joy; after a few moments, Souma finds himself caught in a tight hug.

“Souma, that’s perfect! I love you~!”

Souma’s heart is beating very fast. “A-ahh, thank you!” His voice stutters. “I-I, um...”

Just as quickly as he embraced him, Buchou pulls back. He stands facing the counter, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Hehe, I’m excited to get going…!”

Strangely flustered, Souma tries to regain his focus; unfortunately, the kitchen is not a good place to swing his sword, however well it might calm him. “Um… certainly! Er, as I said, milk chocolate would be best...”

Buchou stares at him for a moment. Perhaps mistaking Souma’s awkwardness, he glances towards Souma’s bowl and gasps. “Ah, but you were in the middle of cooking! You should finish yours, first.”

Souma would argue, but admittedly it probably wasn’t a good idea to leave his own cooking to stand for so long. Indeed, it’s become distinctly solid in the time that they were talking. It feels wasteful to throw it away, but it might have burned in the first place anyway, and anything they make for their audience must be of the highest quality, so Souma has little choice.

“Thank you – I think I’ll try this batch again from the beginning...”

“What kind of chocolates are you making?”

“I’ve come up with a few ideas...” Souma muses aloud as he tears open the packet and pours the buttons with a clatter into his bowl. “Naturally, we will be going with a Japanese theme, and it has been something of a challenge to integrate those flavours into our sweets. For Hasumi-dono, matcha is the obvious choice, given that it matches his image colour. For Kiryuu-dono, I wondered whether we might be able to utilise red bean paste – he is an adept cook himself so he will be in charge of that once he finishes the costumes he’s working on. ...or so we decided, but...he is always pushing himself too hard on these things so I was rather planning on refining the recipe myself and presenting it to him afterwards instead...”

He’s rambling, but Buchou is still listening patiently. Souma fills the saucepan up with a little more water and begins boiling it on the stove. “As for myself… I’m a little more uncertain. Perhaps something with plums would be characteristic enough…? But I’m worried about the texture.”

“Dried plums might be a good idea, then…?”

“I had definitely considered that – I’ll try that first.” He looks up to Buchou with a smile. “And perhaps I should try to add a little sea salt to mine as well? I am, as you said, a member of the Marine Bio Club as well after all.”

Buchou grins back. “I’d like that! It’d be nice if we could get Kaoru to do the same thing, too!”

Souma restrains a snort. “Well… as Akatsuki and Undead are collaborating on our performance, it would be easy to work together here, too. Though I am still somewhat chagrined to consider him a member alongside myself...”

“Don’t be mean~ Hasn’t Kaoru proved his loyalty already? Even if he rarely shows up for club activities.”

“I would have thought that was the bare minimum requirement of being part of a club...” Souma grumbles, but he doesn’t disagree.

Still. He does hope the dried plums will work out. He might have spoken confidently to Buchou earlier but he truly doesn’t have very much practical experience working with chocolate.

“But, that’s right… Akatsuki and Undead are working together on this one, huh.”

“Mm. Since both Hasumi-dono and Kiryuu-dono are extremely busy at this time of the year...” Not that Akatsuki hasn’t resorted to this sort of thing pretty much all year round. Souma refuses to selfishly whine about spending more time on idol activities but does nothing to stem the tide of his worry at his seniors’ tendencies to overwork.

“So it’s just out of convenience, huh? I had no idea... it just sorta made sense to me, since Chocofes doesn’t really feel Akatsuki-ish at all, y’know?”

Souma breathes in deeply. “...yes. That...does concern me. The Western-style sweets, the colour scheme – Kiryuu-dono struggled hard to find an appropriate costume design for us…” 

And so Souma reaches the worry that has hung in the back of his mind all day. “And… as a unit, we very rarely engage in any kind of ‘fanservice’, so I can say for a fact that we are all rather uncertain about that aspect of the performance. In fact, we even went so far as to request Hakaze-dono’s help in exhibiting ‘male sexual appeal’...”

“That sounds like a fun lesson,” Buchou says with a tone Souma can’t entirely decipher. “But, it shouldn’t be too bad, right~? You already had time to practise that sort of thing at Halloween, after all… though I didn’t get to see it myself, boo~”

Buchou’s clear disappointment makes an impressive grab at Souma’s attention but he gamely presses on. “You aren’t the only one. Honestly, the performance concept was quite rushed – we played it safe with the fanservice, attempting to play to our strengths, but as a result the whole concert was rather dull. We failed to attract any attention at all, and I cannot blame the audience for ignoring us.”

Buchou hums in sympathy. “So now you want to pull it off properly, right?”

Souma nods jerkily. “Yes. Though, just as happened back then, we haven’t had the time to do a lot of practice… so, um.” The water is well and truly boiling by now, but Souma stares at it motionlessly. “I’m… truly very nervous.”

He has the words in his head, and he knows the choreography, which has always been good enough in the past. But declaring his seniors’ total superiority in skill comes as naturally to him as breathing. Murmuring sweet nothings is so much more personal. He still can’t quite envision doing so to an entire screaming audience.

Buchou snorts. Souma glances, confused, to find a very fond face looking back at him.

“I’m sure you’ll do great,” he says warmly. “You might look scary on the surface, but you’re extremely gentlemanly with your words. I’m sure that as soon as you start speaking you’ll win them over completely.”

“...I-I try,” Souma says, finally placing his bowl up over the saucepan and beginning to stir. “But… I also have a tendency to mess up and not do things the right way. If something goes wrong, I might panic and ruin the effect completely...” He trails off self-consciously.

Buchou giggles. “That does happen sometimes. But, a flustered Souma is very charming, too…!”

Souma blushes, stirring his chocolate a little more roughly than necessary. “It’s true that many units do make use of that… relatable element, I suppose you could call it. But that isn’t Akatsuki’s style. Our appeal is more aspirational.”

A little chocolate splashes out. Souma wipes it up instinctively with his finger and licks it clean.

“...though,” he says quietly as the sweet chocolate runs down his throat, “that distant appeal is precisely what makes it difficult for us to perform fanservice, so…I am unsure what to do.”

“...I want to hear it,” comes Buchou.

When Souma looks over, his eyes are a little dark. “Your sweet words,” he says.

Souma swallows again. “U-um.” The chocolate is fully melted now, liquid and warm and delicious. He takes the bowl from the heat, and when he pours more buttons into the mixture, his hand shakes a little. “As you wish. Once I am finished with this…”

He stares down at the bowl, watching carefully as the newly-added buttons melt in amongst the rest. He can feel Buchou’s eyes on him, as sure and attentive as a waiting audience, and it somehow leaves him feeling just as shy. He repeats the words in his head, more sure of them with every passing second.

Only when the chocolates have almost fully intermingled does he lift his head. Summoning all of the strength Akatsuki has provided him, he turns and levels his Buchou-dono a sincere, certain smile.

“My beloved – tonight, I devote myself entirely to you. I am your most loyal servant – in return, I ask only that you extend your gaze to myself alone.”

The promises drip sweetly from his tongue with barely a puff. While he had felt awkward repeating such intimate lines in practice, now he feels no such hesitance.

Gazing into Buchou’s eyes like this feels like the most natural thing in the world.

He means every word he says – for Buchou, he wants to be solid and reliable and aware...

The chocolate.

“ _Ah._ ” He jumps, worried that he’s already disobeyed Buchou’s remonstrations and ruined yet another batch, but the bowl looks as smooth and pristine as a demonstration picture in a cookbook. He immediately places the bowl above the saucepan again, trying with effort not to stir too fast and slow the heating process even more than he already has.

“So, erm,” he continues, a little worried again now at Buchou’s continued silence. “Was that – all right? I suppose the lines aren’t too out of character for me, but I’m still a complete beginner when it comes to these romantic moods...”

“Nooo no no no,” Buchou says, voice unusually high pitched. Souma realises with a rush that his cheeks are rather pink. “No… that was very, very good.”

“Was it?” Souma breathes. He remembers back to the practice sessions he’d shared with Undead. “Did your heart beat faster?”

Buchou responds immediately: “Very, very fast.”

Instantly, Souma grins, heart skipping a beat just as he wants to somehow move or jump in place or pump his fist. He feels inordinately happy, savouring Buchou’s expression of awe in a secret little selfish place where he will keep it very safe.

“A-ah! Well, then. That’s… very good.” He continues stirring but he can barely even see the chocolate in front of him anymore. “Um, obviously for the performance, of course.”

Buchou doesn’t respond immediately. “Mmm,” he murmurs eventually, sounding a little breathless.

Souma is giddy. He feels like a child, cheeks hurting as he tries not to grin quite so obviously. There’s a fluttering in his stomach, and pleased as he is, he drops his guard enough to admit to himself that he might just know what it means.

“...and, um.” He didn’t plan to continue talking, but he can’t seem to restrain himself right now. “I’m… a little happy that I was able to show Buchou-dono my cool side for once, today.”

After a moment’s pause, Buchou finally turns back to him. His eyes are narrowed and he looks as though he’s holding his smile back, too.

“You did,” he says. The huskiness of his voice makes Souma shiver. “But, I don’t like to lose so easily. So, shall I show you my sweet words, too…?”

Souma almost drops his bowl into the saucepan.

“U-ummm,” he stutters, his confidence instantly shattered. “I-I’m not sure if that’s… such a good idea...” No matter how much he’d like to be cool right now, he knows without a shred of doubt that he wouldn’t be able to bear something so wonderful without melting as surely as the buttons swirling beneath his hand.

Buchou giggles for a long, long time. The sound, Souma thinks, is sweeter than any words could have ever been.

With Buchou’s oversight, the dried plum chocolates turn out well, but Souma decides to cook a slightly altered second batch just to make sure they’re perfect. Buchou’s salted chocolates, on the other hand, are amazing on their first try.

After pronouncing their excellence, however, Buchou continues to lick at his fingers.

“So,” he says deliberately, “for Kuro you were thinking of doing red bean paste, right…?”

“Ah, yes!” Souma responds immediately, chest thumping at Buchou’s answering smile.

Souma might be a novice when it comes to romance, but even he can’t remain oblivious to the tendrils curling delicately around his heart.

Right now, simply making chocolates with Buchou is enough to make him the happiest person in the world. But someday, he thinks, he’d like to say those beautiful words to Buchou for real, and hear what he has for him in return.


End file.
